13 ICSEW members receive awards at 2023 Transition Celebration
OLYMPIA—Thirteen members of the Interagency Committee of State Employed Women, ICSEW, have received awards. They received the awards during the ICSEW’s annual transition celebration July 18 at the Columbia Room at the Washington State Legislative Building in Olympia. It was the first in-person meeting the ICSEW held since January of 2019. Attendees were also able to watch the ceremony on Zoom.
The following is a list of ICSEW members who received awards, along with excerpts from their nominations:
Everlasting Award: Ann Bartholomew, human resources consultant, Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals
The recipient of the Everlasting Award has served at least two terms as an ICSEW representative for their state agency. The recipient remains calm under pressure and handles changes in leadership with resilience. This representative also retains and shares a wealth of historical information and always assists others.
Visionary Award: Masozi Nyirenda, human resources business partner, Department of Enterprise Services
This award recognizes a committee member who helps see out future and helps us get there. The recipient demonstrates innovation and constantly implements new ideas.
Lorrie Jo Brown Excellence in Service Award:
Summer Ramos, tax administration manager, Department of Revenue and
Kassandra Drake, human resources consultant, State Invesment Board
This award honors someone who demonstrates innovative problem solving and excellence in public service. It is named after the late Lorrie Jo Brown. During her service with ICSEW, Lorrie Jo Brown played an instrumental role in the committee’s breastfeeding survey project and in mentoring others.
Leadership Award: Keri O' Connell, management analyst, Department of Revenue
This award is given to an outstanding leader. The recipient demonstrates courage in making leadership decisions, excellence in professionalism and actively assists others in realizing their potential.
Extra Mile: Janet McIntosh, safety officer, Department of Natural Resources
The recipient of this award is given to someone who has gone above and beyond to serve ICSEW’s mission. They demonstrate an outstanding effort on committee work and activities and commits time and energy to enrich lives through advocacy, outreach and opportunity.
Outstanding Subcommittee Member Awards
Communications, Birgit Miller, tax policy specialist, Department of Revenue
Birgit Miller is a star on the ICSEW communications subcommittee. She began composing the meeting preview bulletins, then took on the responsibility of the meeting summary, too. Her contributions help us get information out to ICSEW members about the work we do so they can share it with their executive sponsors and agencies on a regular basis. We’ve gotten a lot more interaction from ICSEW members—from blog submissions, participation in events and inquiries on joining ICSEW, thanks to Birgit.
Additionally, Birgit offers to help with any communications tasks she can in her busy schedule, such as writing blogs or sharing information from her agency state employees might be interested in.
Conference: Kristin Dugas, business analyst, Department of Social and Health Services
Kristin Dugas helped make the 2022 Professional Development Conference a great success. Kristin’s outreach, diligence, and positive attitude in reaching out to potential speakers and musicians contributed to an amazing lineup of speakers and personalized videos from a local musical artist for the conference.
Membership: Jennifer Ward, project coordinator, Employment Security Department
Our committee is small but mighty. Jennifer Ward adds to our mighty subcommittee with her positive energy and strong work ethic. She provides input on how we can improve our processes. She volunteers to craft the member circle emails and blog post. She thoroughly reviews documents and provides feedback when needed. Jennifer is a great addition to our subcommittee, and we truly appreciate her.
Mentorship: Michelle Gladstone-Wade, tribal liaison, department of Commerce
Ever since joining the mentorship subcommittee in 2023, Michelle has had a tremendous and positive impact. She is quick to volunteer and offer support with our subcommittee actions and deliverables. For example, she took the lead in revising and editing a statewide survey. We could not have done this project without her help and subject-matter expertise.
Additionally, she attends meetings on a regular basis and is in constant communication with the team. She is full of positive energy and great ideas. We appreciate her positive attitude and support in helping making Washington a more inclusive and belonging state.
Professional Development: Lyn Peters, communications director, Department of Financial Institutions
Lyn is such an engaged committee member. She researches speakers based on membership input and always comes to meetings with great ideas. Lyn is a busy person but made time to ensure we identified quality presenters. Specifically, Lyn brought us a speaker who presented on leading through difficult changes. She coordinated with this speaker from initial contact through the closeout of the contract. Lyn also helps with the responsibility of putting together meeting agendas.
Public Outreach:Sequenna Fashana, professional licensing representative, Department of Licensing
Sequenna has been with ICSEW since 2019 and has been an essential part of the committee since joining. Sequenna serves as the executive co-secretary for ICSEW, but consistently goes above and beyond her secretarial duties. She volunteers on the ICSEW’s public outreach subcommittee. Sequenna is always willing to help with anything that is asked of her whether, it’s tabling at an event or updating our ListServ to connect state employees to ICSEW.
In 2023, Sequenna made sure ICSEW was present in the community by tabling at events like Veterans Employee Resource Group hiring event located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and at the Public Service Recognition Week in Olympia. She is knowledgeable, helpful and friendly in every interaction with board members, subcommittee members, and potential new members. We are so thankful to have Sequenna on our team and we look forward to serving alongside her at more events.
Legislative & Policy: Stephanie Goedecke, quality assurance specialist, Employment Security Department
Stephanie Goedecke made significant contributions to the ICSEW legislative and policy subcommittee. Stephanie eagerly engages in conversation with others, sharing what she is interested in, asking inquisitive questions, and truly compassionate in researching bills and sharing out what she’s learned and composed five bill alerts during the last legislative session.